The effect of primers on manufacturing processes and adhesion, as well as their basic chemistry, was described in Section 4.4. It has also been mentioned that primers may contain adhesion promoters because it does not always make sense — even if it is possible — to directly add specific adhesion promoters to the adhesive. It is not easy to make a clear distinction between primers and adhesion promoters, since adhesion promoters contained in solutions used for the bonding of glass are sometimes also called primers. Yet, by confining us to adhesive technology and the primers and adhesion promoters used in this field, they may be fairly well defined:
• Primers are thin, polymer-bound layers which are located on the adherent to be bonded and contain components that may be similar or dissimilar to the adhesive.
• Adhesion promoters are mostly low-molecular-weight organic substances with special reactive groups that may form chemical bonds with the adherent surface on the one side, and with the adhesive on the other side.
These will be illustrated later, with examples.
5.10.1